Ava's Mysteries: The First Mystery
by A-and-J-forever
Summary: Ava, Carynn, Maria, and Jami are totally popular. Who would expect them to solve a mystery? Jami has a new boyfriend that no one likes, and their friend Sally's business is being ruined! Can they find out who is doing this?


This is my first book. I really hope you like it!

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Hi. My name is Ava. I am fifteen years old. My strawberry blonde hair is naturally curly, and my mom has always said that my gray eyes look like imperfect jewels, because they have green specs in them. My perfect skin is almost always tanned, and I have worn make-up and a pair of jeans to school every day since I was a teenager. Why _am_ I telling you all this? I don't know. I think the question should be more like, 'What _aren't_ I telling you?' Well, you will find out…

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It was a gorgeous summer morning, with air that felt warm and cool at the same time. I would love to say I just woke up and stretched, but that isn't true. In fact, it was just about the opposite! Under my pillow, my phone rang on vibrate – an alarm. My still-tired hand groped around under my soft pillow, aiming to shut it off (it was too early, and face it- the dumb thing was annoying.), when my sleepy brain realized it wasn't an alarm. It was a text message. Well, actually, it was three text messages- one from each of my best friends.

The first I answered was from Jami, my totally boy-crazed best friend. '_Ava-_' it said. '_I'm wearing faded blue jeans today- pink shirt, or blue?_' I texted her back, though I was still half asleep. '_Blue,_' I said. '_Pink is what I'm wearing._' Then I answered the next one, more awake this time.

It was from Maria, my lovable buddy. She has a thick Spanish accent, so as I read the text I could imagine her voice, and how she said it as she wrote it. '_Hola, chika! Time to wake up, sleepy! Look at the clock, then out the window! By the way, I am wearing black jeans today. Should I wear my nice green top, or my baby blue one?_' I laughed as I checked the clock, and then the widow, like she said. I saw her waving at me from her window, holding up two cute shirts, one green and one blue. I pointed to the green one, not bothering to text back. She pouted, apparently thinking the blue top was cuter. I giggled at her expression, and then answered my last text.

It was from Carynn, one of my closest friends. She wrote, '_Morning_, _Ava_. _Mini skirt or jeans?_' and I wrote her back. '_Mini, but only if you have a red cami. jeans if you don't._' it took a minute, during which I assume she was digging through her closet for a red cami, but then she texted back. '_Sigh_' she said. '_No red cami_?' I asked. '_Double nix._' She replied. _Double nix _is Carynn's word for _no_. She is British, with an accent, and it is sort of funny to hear her say it.

When I was finished, I was fully awake. I got dressed, shoved my phone into the pocket of my gorgeous cut-off jeans, threw my purse over my arm, and slid down the banister on the stairs. When I got to the kitchen, my mom had made me a plate of pancakes and sausage- my favorite. I ate in a rush, thanked my mom, and ran out the door to meet up with my best friends at our usual place, _Sally's Sweet Specials Store_. We met there almost every day of the summer. It had and outside where you could eat, and also and inside where you could just walk around. We loved that place. If it shut down, we always said, what would we do with all our spare time?

When I got there, I found Carynn, her faced framed with her short red haircut and her pretty, light brown eyes popping from the make-up she wore. She was wearing a yellow top and jeans from her favorite store. "Where are the other girls?" I asked. "Jami is inside," Carynn replied. "And Maria is running a bit late." I walked inside the door, and saw Jami talking to someone. She had obviously been talking to him for a while, or had decided to stop talking, or whatever, but she said good-bye and, walking over to where I stood, smiled her boy-crazy smile. "Guess who just got asked out on a date?" she paused for effect. I rolled my gray eyes. I crossed my tan arms. "Me!" she exclaimed. "I was! Want to know how old he is?" she paused again. I rolled my eyes again. My arms stayed crossed. "_He's turning seventeen!!!_" she said.

Truly, the whole _I don't care _attitude was fake. I was jealous that she always got the older guys. We all were. But I smothered the jealousy and smoothed out my expression. Except that before I had a chance to make any words come out of my open mouth, "Bet you anything your parents won't let you," a joking Spanish accent behind us had said. We whipped around, already knowing who it was. There was Maria, wearing the green top I picked, her strait-as-a-ruler brown hair down past her waist.

I smiled and said, "Morning, Maria. By the way, when _are _you gonna cut that hair, girl?" I picked some up in my hand and pretend cut it with my fingers. She laughed, but replied, "When you stop wearing make-up!" Jami and I giggled. "I guess you'll have hair that will be past your toes, then. You'll have to put it up in a bun every day like our French teacher!" I turned her around and twisted her hair into an ugly brown bun, then let go, and it fell back into its original position. We all laughed at the thought of Maria wearing her hair like Mrs. Forger. We were still laughing as we walked out the door to find Carynn. We had stopped laughing when we found her, by that time we were only giggling. "What are you laughing at?" she joked. "Ava," Maria and Jami said together. We all laughed.

There was so much laughter today. How could any of us possible know that soon, so very soon, we wouldn't be laughing?

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I have worked so hard on this chapter. I was up until two writing it! Like I said before, I hope you like it.


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